The Best Classic Books Of All Times To Read At Home
During these hard times we are trying to cope with the whole situation by mostly staying in our homes. For some people, it is the end of the world but for others, it is a great opportunity to spend a big time with themselves and focus on their personal needs, like reading. It is a perfect time to expand your mind and soul, build new mental models, and allow yourself to become more culturally literate and thus better able to participate in. Here are the best classics we thought might keep you thinking about long after you’ve finished the last page.
1984 George Orwell
Set in a future dystopian world of perpetual war and constant government surveillance, our protagonist, Winston, is a quintessential everyman who works for the Ministry of Truth rewriting history to the government’s party lines rhetoric. He comes upon a secret organization which seeks to destroy the state, and together with a mysterious woman, joins the cause to fight against Big Brother. Although published in the late 1940s, it resonates today more strongly than ever.
BRAVE NEW WORLD Aldous Huxley
Similar to 1984, but whereas that novel portends changes in governmental rule, Aldous Huxley’s 1931 classic looks at technological changes that would change society — babies are born in laboratories, entertainment is formulaic rather than narrative, individuality is frowned up, and society is hugely stratified. Bernard Marx is on the top levels of society, but can’t seem to fit in. So he takes an ill-advised vacation, only to discover some unsettling things about the world he left behind.
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV Fyodor Dostoevsky
While the book’s plot centers on an aging, disinterested father and his three adult children, the substance found within goes much beyond that. Dostoevsky’s final and greatest novel, this book also involves spiritual and moral dramas and debates regarding God, free will, ethics, morality, judgment, doubt, reason, and more. It’s a philosophical work clothed as a novel — which of course makes Dostoevsky’s weighty ideas easier to digest.
WALDEN Henry David Thoreau
First published in 1854, Walden details Henry David Thoreau’s experiences over the course of two years, two months, and two days in a cabin he built near Walden Pond, amidst woodland owned by friend and mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson. The book is a philosophical reflection on simple living and shedding the trivial ties that bind one to society. Thoreau explains how separating oneself from the world of men can truly awaken the sleeping self.
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO Alexander Dumas
The ultimate tale of betrayal and revenge. Edmund Dantes, days before marrying his beloved Mercedes, is brutally betrayed, arrested for treason, and consequently taken to a prison on an island off the French coast. The story goes on to tell of his escape from prison (don’t worry, it’s early in the novel and doesn’t ruin anything) and his becoming wealthy and re-entering society as an educated and sophisticated Count. He plots his revenge, eyes reclaiming his love, and ultimately…well, you’ll just have to read it.
